"So anyway, that's pretty much it. What about you? How's year.. nine? Treating you?" A second pang of guilt came as he realised he couldn't remember exactly how old his own brother was.
"No way, you just totally skipped over everything. I didn't even have a chance to react!" Robin exclaimed, incredulous. "Tell me more; I think I could solve this mystery."
"Not until you tell me about your life. What's going on with you?" Xeno pressed. That mystery was a curse to anyone who looked into it, Carmazan was right.
"You know.. stuff?"
He sighed. He knew he hadn't always been the most sociable of teenagers, but trying to get any information out of Robin was like trying to get a pearl out of an especially stubborn oyster. He asked more specific questions.
"What did you pick for your GCSE options?" Year nine was around that time, right?
"History, triple science and business," he replied, his head resting on his fist.
"Those were my exact ones! Is Mrs. O'Brien still teaching history?"
"Don't remind me; I've got a test with her next week." He groaned. Suddenly, the gears clicked in Xeno's head. "Why aren't you guys at school?"
"It's October half term."
"Really?" He was amazed that time had gone by that quickly. A little over two months had passed since that first office party. It simultaneously felt very recent, and also like it had happened to him in another life. He realised that once half term was up, it would likely just be him and his father in the bakery. Hopefully, one of them would be on the till while the other would be in the kitchen.
At the same time, that also meant that the end of the museum's quarter was coming up. He could only pray that Ms. Pepper would look past what she thought he'd done and spare the Astronomy department. Although, with Dr. Aruda as one of the few people remaining, things were looking bleak.
"Xeno?"
He turned around, and locked eyes with Shane. Compared with Robin, Shane was far more reserved. This was one of the first times he'd directly addressed Xeno. "Yeah? Oh, is my lunch break over?"
"Dad has something he'd like to tell you." Shane looked away uncomfortably.
"Uh-oh." Xeno joked, turning back to Robin. "Let's hope this isn't my second sacking this week." But as he walked through the double doors into the kitchen, he realised that there was a very real possibility that it was. Perhaps he was throwing off the kitchen's atmosphere?
"Xeno.." his father began, before trailing off and looking away, lost in thought.
"This is ridiculous!" exclaimed Shane. Xeno jumped; it was the first time that he'd ever heard his brother raise his voice. "You can't just go around pretending that everything's fine, Dad," Shane continued. "You need to tell him."
"Tell me what?" He asked. He hated feeling confused; it reminded him of the incident last week.
"Xeno.. I'm sorry."
"What?" He replied, taken aback. It almost didn't sound right coming out of his father's mouth.
"I'm sorry. For everything. I.." He trailed off again, looking at Shane for help.
"What Dad's trying to say, Xeno, is that he feels terrible for kicking you out. And for not supporting you, and for not reaching out, and.. everything." He sighed. "That's what I've been trying to get him to say since you came back here. We know Dad doesn't do well with apologies." He added, with a slight smirk.
"That's right." His dad continued. "Since your mother left, I just wanted to hold on to you, make sure you were safe andeverything. That's why I wanted you to go into the bakery, or at least go to a university close, so that I could keep an eye on you. I.." His lower lip began to shake. Xeno could tell that this was hard for him, but he was too dumbfounded to react.
"When you told me you were gonna go into astronomy, I realised that... that I wouldn't be able to protect you anymore. That I wouldn't be able to see you anymore. And it scared me. I'm sorry, I just..." He turned away, but he could swear he saw him blinking a tear out of his eye. He had only ever seen his dad cry on one other occasion, the day she'd left.
"I didn't want to get left again." His dad concluded.
"Dad, I'm so sorry." The words tumbled out of his mouth, ready to come out after being left unsaid for so long. I should have called or tried to talk to you, I just... I didn't think I could face you if I wasn't successful yet."
"And that.." Xeno's dad continued, looking at Shane again, who was gesturing for him to go on. It was clear they'd run through this at least a couple of times. "That doesn't excuse my actions, but I hope it helps to explain them. I'm sorry."
Neither Xeno nor his father had ever been the "hugging" type. But as years of pent-up resentment unravelled between them like a knot finally coming undone, they fell into each-other's embrace.
Things got easier from that point on. It wasn't perfect, and Xeno was still looking forward to when he could work in the astronomy field again, but despite the heat from the ovens, work in the bakery became comfortable. Shane started to open up, and it turned out they'd had a lot to talk about- unlike Robin, Shane actually wanted to talk about his life. "Can I be completelyhonest?" Shane asked him one shift, when his dad was out serving tables.
